Real Madrid and Barcelona Get Richer

Props to Two Naked Liberals for pointing out the recent TV deal Real Madrid and MediaPro signed. It's thought to be worth €1.1 billion for 7 years of broadcasting rights. Not too long before this deal, MediaPro signed a similar deal with Barcelona thought to worth €1 billion. These are pretty big deals and it remains to be seen how much MediaPro will be able to make off of these broadcasts. This seems to be the biggest deal to date even when keeping in mind the higher fees don't start until 2008. Mediaset, an Italian TV network controlled by Berlusconi, signed a deal this spring with Juventus that was reportedly worth €248 million for just two years of broadcasting rights. Sky and Setanta paid £1.8 billion (€2.6billion) for broadcast rights for the English Premiership for 2007-2010. It's the largest price paid but it's for an entire league, not just one team. To give this some perspective, the National Football League's (NFL) TV broadcast rights are estimated to be worth $3.75billion. It's interesting to see these new deals emerging that are worth considerably more than previous deals. A year or three ago the pundits were predicting that the value of broadcasting deals for European clubs would level off. How much longer will they continue to increase?

Saints Loanees

One of the teams I enjoy following is Southampton FC (England, ). A recent article pointed out that they had loaned a couple of young, promising players out to other clubs. Young goalkeeper Michael Poke was going to Woking (England, Nationwide Conference). Leon Best was going to join Yeovil (England, League One). And Simon Gillet had just joined Bournemouth (England, League One). Teams loan players out for several reasons. Sometimes they do it to help a player better get in shape. This may be in the form of a short term loan. Other times teams feel the level of competition and experience the player gains would be better than playing for their own club's youth or reserve teams. Leon Best is likely joining Yeovil for this reason. Other times it's because the player no longer features in their plans but they either can't find a buyer at a price they want up front or they want to wait and see just in case. Tim Howard is an example of this type of situation as it's likely Sir Alex feels he's not in Manchester United's long term solution for GK. I've wonder why the MLS hasn't been able to land a few loan signings for English players. Maybe the cost of it doesn't make it worth it. But the league offers young players a chance to play at a decent level of competition, surely no worse than League One, during a period of time that largely covers their off season. Even though the players are several thousand miles away, the culture difference for the players is minimal. And a look both an MLS roster and starting lineup shows the league doesn't have any issue with playing young players every week. So why haven't a few young English players popped up in the MLS? Do teams thing the level of competition isn't good enough? Do English clubs want the players around for pre-season training to better asses their plans for them? Is the MLS just not interested in making these sort of moves?

Should Gareth Southgate Continue

For those of you who follow the English game, Gareth Southgate appointed manager at Middlesbrough this summer. The club had lost their previous manager Steve McClaren when he took a job heading up the English national team. Who Ate All The Pies takes a look at situation including Southgate's lack of licensing. I'm still waiting for people to start asking the question they should be : When will Steve Gibson be shown the door?

Gulati Denies Peckerman

Ives is reporting that Sunil Gulati denied reports that USSF would be hiring Jose Peckerman as the next head coach of the US Men National Team. As Ives points out, it doesn't mean that Peckerman will not be the next coach. It just means that Gulati didn't tell anyone the deal was done as various rumors have claimed.

West Ham United Takeover

The Sports Economist looks at the world of sports with an economist's eye. Today they looked at the situation at the English Premeirship club West Ham United. For those of you who don't already know, there have been rumors of a takeover of them this season. They've spent much of the season in the relegation zone and one would assume the ownership mess has been a factor. But what the fans are likely most upset over is not only a potential change in tradition but the possibility of getting moved into a stadium that would be too large, have the dreaded running track and overall be a bad move for the club. This is also a club that's traditionally had local control. The possible takeover of West Ham and the protests by it's fans is not a simple case of xenophobia.